What to use instead of spaghetti
A strand has no cavity and no ridges, so a sauce must coat it. Thin, slippery sauces win: oil and garlic, clams, a smooth tomato, a pecorino emulsion. A chunky ragu slides off and pools in the bowl. Rome dresses spaghetti with carbonara and cacio e pepe. Naples gives it clams and tomato.
The closest swap: linguine
Same length and weight, a flat section that coats the same way.
Spaghetti is long strands, 250 to 260 mm long, 9 to 12 minutes in the pot. Linguine sits in the long strands family and cooks in 9 to 11 minutes. Match the cook time first. A swap that is right in shape and wrong in time still ends up wrong on the plate.
Every swap for spaghetti, ranked
A substitute must behave the same way with the sauce you are making. The ones marked as chosen are hand-picked. The rest score on family, cavity, surface, size, and shared sauces.
- 1
Linguine
Long strands · Liguria
Same length and weight, a flat section that coats the same way (chosen)
- 2
Spaghettini
Long strands · Campania
The same strand, thinner and two minutes faster (chosen)
- 3
Bucatini
Long strands · Lazio
The same strand with a bore, for a sauce with more body (chosen)
- 4
Vermicelli
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 5 sauces, close in size
- 5
Capellini
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 6
Fedelini
Long strands · Liguria
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 7
Spaghettoni
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 8
Trenette
Long strands · Liguria
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
Match the sauce, not the look
Spaghetti is listed against 7 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for aglio e olio: Garlic, olive oil, chili, parsley. The thinnest sauce there is. It needs a strand that it can coat, with nothing to hide in.
- Best pasta for pomodoro: Tomato, olive oil, garlic or onion, basil. Smooth and light. Almost any shape works; the classic is spaghetti or penne.
- Best pasta for marinara: A quick tomato sauce with garlic and oregano. Thinner than a ragu, faster than a pomodoro. Strands and small tubes.
- Best pasta for vongole: Clams, garlic, white wine, parsley, olive oil. Thin and briny. Spaghetti or linguine; nothing that competes with the shell.
- Best pasta for carbonara: Egg yolk, pecorino, guanciale, pepper. A silky coating with crisp pieces of pork. Long strands or a ridged tube, both are Roman.
- Best pasta for cacio e pepe: Pecorino Romano and black pepper emulsified with starchy pasta water. A creamy film that clings to a rough long strand.
- Best pasta for puttanesca: Tomato, olives, capers, anchovy, chili. Salty and chunky. A strand or a tube that stands up to it.
Side by side
The measured difference between spaghetti and each swap.